


I Hope You Dance

by Cjcorrigan



Category: Havemercy Series - Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Ballet, F/M, Out of Character, Swearing, mentions of injury, smitten adamo, this could never happen irl but it's more fun this way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 04:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13159371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cjcorrigan/pseuds/Cjcorrigan
Summary: "Owen Adamo did not, under any circumstances, dance."Adamo works as a set maker at his friend Royston's ballet studio. Everything changes when a new ballerina named Laure joins their ballet classes and Adamo is completely lovesick over her.festivebastion gift for vulpesvortex which takes place in their Ballet AU- I hope you enjoy it! Adamo is a bit out of character because he's so smitten with Laure but hopefully it's still good in spite of that!





	I Hope You Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vulpesvortex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulpesvortex/gifts).



Owen Adamo did not, under any circumstances, dance.

So how did he end up here- in the wings backstage, wearing tights that are three quarters of the way up his ass while an orchestra played Swan Lake from their pit? He had always been suspicious that working at Royston’s studio would come back to bite him in the ass and that Royston himself would be the person to finally do him in, but this was ridiculous.

Adamo supposed that you could say that it all began with a girl. Laure. She stuck out with like a sore thumb amongst the other dancers, and that was what Adamo liked about her. Where the other girls who danced here sported long hair in muted tones of blonde and brunette, Laure had short fiery red hair, the kind of color you couldn’t get from a bottle, and not to mention the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. She was also more curvaceous than the other dancers with wide hips, broad shoulders and a full chest. Adamo could still remember her first practice where a few of the female dancers giggled behind her back about her size and their male counterparts scoffed at her saying “I pity the bloke who has to lift _her_.”

She’d whipped her head around at that, giving the lot of them a nasty look through narrowed eyes. Then, without a word, she straightened up, turned back to the barre and began to stretch. And when it was time to audition for their winter performance, Laure was the only dancer who could successfully complete the hardest move in Swan Lake- the 32 consecutive fouettés on pointe.

She was spectacular, and until a week and a half ago, he’d been too much of a chickenshit to even talk to her, let alone dance with her. All he could do is watch from afar as he hammered together a forest set for their next premiere, and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t accidentally hammered his thumb instead of a nail because he was too distracted watching her practices.

 

* * *

 

Then disaster had struck when Toverre, the dancer cast as Laure’s partner and cavalier for Swan Lake tore his ACL, and there was no way he was going to heal in the short amount of time before their first show.

“This is an absolute disaster!” Royston practically wailed as they all hovered around Toverre’s crumpled form on the floor, waiting for the ambulance to arrive. “Everyone’s already been cast, there is no alternate. Unless…”

Royston turned from the group towards Adamo’s work station. Royston was suddenly no longer hysterical in a way that Adamo felt was far too convenient in times like these. Instead, now there was a mischievous glint in his eye and Adamo knew nothing good would come of this.

“Royston, I know what you’re thinking and the answer is no,” Adamo warned.

“Oh, but drastic times call for drastic measures, wouldn’t you say?” Royston asked. “I know you know the steps and I know you can lift.”

“I helped you practice in college- that was decades ago, and I don’t remember what I had for dinner last night let alone how to do a glissande or balancé.”

“It’s like riding a bike. Besides, you wouldn’t deny Laure her first lead role, would you?”

So that had been that. Royston hadn’t been an easy teacher, and made him and Laure put in double the practice hours to make sure that Adamo was up to speed. At first he was stumbling over his own feet from nervousness, but he quickly learned that if he stopped thinking about it so much and just focused on Laure and following her lead then he’d be halfway decent at this. Even so, it didn’t stop him from feeling absolutely preposterous doing it.

 

* * *

 

Once before their scheduled practice, Laure showed up early, two Starbucks cups of hot chocolate in hand. “Oh good!” she said, grinning ear to ear in a way that made Adamo’s heart ache and handing him one of the cups. “I was hoping you’d be here before Royston. Here, this is for you.”

“Oh,” he said dumbly. “Thanks, you shouldn’t have.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s just a little thank you,” she said, blushing and moving to lean back against the barre. “For everything. I know you didn’t really want to do this dance, but you’re doing it anyways. And for making the sets. I think it’s a shame that most dancers don’t take the time to appreciate all that work you and the stage hands and orchestra put in for us. We couldn’t do a show without any of that. Sorry, I’m rambling now, aren’t I?”

“I like your ram-“ Adamo began, but was promptly cut off as Royston strolled through the studio doors.

“Wonderful! You’re both here, so we can get started early. No time to lose, not when the show is tomorrow night!” Royston announced before turning on his heel to flip through his many CD’s and find the correct one.

Laure turned away to get ready, putting on her pointe shoes and stripping off her top layer of clothes to reveal her leotard beneath.

“Hey, Laure,” Adamo said, trying to avert his eyes from all her newly exposed skin. She paused, looking over her shoulder at him with her sweatshirt halfway off. “Tomorrow afternoon before the show, can you come to the concert hall? There’s something I want to show you.”

Laure beamed at him, “Okay, I’ll be there.”

 

* * *

 

They made plans to meet backstage at 4pm the next day.

Laure showed up with her bag of dance shoes and several costumes in tow. “Okay, I’ll bite- What are we doing here so early exactly?”

Adamo smiled. “Do you trust me?”

Laure cocked her head to one side like she thought it was an odd question for him to have before answering, “Of course. I trust you to lift me over your head every day.”

“Then close your eyes and no peaking. Just follow me, and I’ll make sure you don’t run into anything.”

Laure screwed her eyes shut as if making a show out of it, and let Adamo take her hands and lead her to center stage. He turned her slightly so that she was facing the backdrop away from the rows of seats where hundreds of audience members would sit in only a few short hours.

“Okay, you can open them,” Adamo told her.

Laure’s eyes fluttered open and were met with the forest scene Adamo had been working on the whole month. Green trees the color of her eyes that were covered in ivy and a glittering lake were laid out in front of her. And then it dawned on her that this was the stage of her first lead role as a ballerina. The thought was staggering and daunting, but at the same time it was somehow comforting. To know that someone put in all that work to support her.

“I thought you might like to see the whole thing put together before the show,” Adamo said.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. All of a sudden, she felt like she should laugh or cry from joy, but she couldn’t do either because she was so speechless.

 

* * *

 

When it was time for him to join Laure on stage opening night, his stomach was in knots, but he tried to ignore the audience and look only at Laure. Just like in practice. She was even more beautiful in costume, with her hair pulled back into a bun.

Adamo was sure there were a few moments where he flubbed his leaps and was ready to hear all about it from Royston the millisecond this was over, but the show went more or less without a hitch. At the curtain call Laure was breathing heavily from the exertion of the dance but was radiant as she curtseyed to the audience. She was truly in her element, and Adamo was only grateful to see it from her side.

Afterwards, Adamo left her to greet her fans while he stalked back to the men’s dressing rooms to change. When he left, Laure was waiting outside, still in her costume and arms overflowing with flowers. When she saw him, her eyes lit up and she said, “Thank God, I was worried I missed you and you’d already gone home! Here these are for you!”

She handed him a bouquet of roses and poinsettias. This time it was Adamo’s turn to be speechless, but luckily Laure was rambling again, which saved him from having to struggle around a response.

“I just wanted to say thank you again. I couldn’t have done any of this without you. Look, I’ve got to leave because my parents came into town to see me tonight, but seriously, you were amazing.”

And then she leaned in and just for a second pressed her lips to his cheek, before pulling away and rushing with one last “Thank you!”

In the end, Adamo thought that maybe dancing wasn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Fun facts: I was a classically trained ballerina for like 8 years as a kid. I eventually had to quit because i blew out both my knees. Then came back and am currently in my third year of informal training. So. when I got my festivebastion assignment I was drawn immediately to the option of doing something in the ballet AU.
> 
> If you want to know what the 32 fouettes that only Laure could pull off look like you can see them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIADfYGc9Vw


End file.
